Pakistan says it will provide ‘irrefutable evidence’ India sponsors militant groups
- Pakistani officials have long claimed that India sponsors violent groups in Pakistan
- Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for attempt to sabotage China’s Belt and Road plan in Pakistan
Pakistan will present evidence to the United Nations and other international bodies that India, its neighbour and arch rival, is involved with militant organisations on its soil, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
Pakistani officials have long claimed that India sponsors violent groups in Pakistan – claims India has always denied – but Saturday’s announcement at a press conference in the capital Islamabad provided a heightened level of detail and specific accusations.
“We are now presenting irrefutable evidence to the world to demonstrate the Indian state’s direct sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan that has resulted in the deaths of innocent Pakistanis,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told media alongside the spokesperson for the country’s military.
A dossier of evidence would be shared with the United Nations and other international agencies, he added.
Reuters sent India’s foreign ministry a statement from the media wing of Pakistan’s military detailing the allegations but it did not respond to request for comment.
India not only denies interfering in Pakistan but accuses Islamabad itself of supporting militants who launch attacks in India and fight in Indian-controlled portion of the disputed territory Kashmir, a claim Pakistan denies.